Student Contributor: K. Coan
The Yacker Tracker looks like a stop light with green, yellow, and red lights to measure noise level in the classroom. This device is great for helping students maintain an appropriate level of noise during different tasks throughout the school day. When the classroom begins to get too loud, the tracker will flash red and begin buzzing to alert students that their noise level needs to be adjusted.
The Yacker Tracker provides a visual signal of too much noise for students, but also children if used outside of school. This tool can be used from Kindergarten all the way to 12th grade. It looks just like a traffic signal but instead signals too much noise as well as moderate and appropriate noise levels. The appropriate sound leve can be adjusted for various situations and is a fantastic audio-visual reminder when the noise level in the classroom begins to get too high. This tool should mostly be used during group work as well as class activities. Elements to keep in mind include that younger students tend to have a harder time realizing that their noise level is too high and sometimes have a harder time controlling it. This tool should help the younger students especially for keeping their noise level at an appropriate level.
I personally have never experienced this is any of my classes, however I have had friends in other classes in which their teacher used this. The majority of them would say that it is an interesting device that gives direct feedback of noise level, in a way that even younger children can understand and correct easily.
I placed the Yacker Tracker in the supportive phase, although for some situations I feel it could be used for the corrective phase. I believe this fits best with the supportive phase because this is something that can be used while learning is occurring. In order for learning to be effective for each student, it would help if the entire classroom is focused on the task at hand without any disruptions. This device allows for students to evaluate and adjust their noise level for various situations, when learning is occurring. This tracker helps to maintain focus in order to achieve the highest level of learning for each student.
I believe this tool is collaborative, but mostly on the teacher-centered side because this device is solely ran by the teacher and he/she/ decides exactly what the appropriate level of noise is for the classroom. The collaboration I see is that both the students and teacher help to adjust the noise in order to maximize learning and active participation. Although the teacher decides the appropriate noise level, the students are also in charge of themselves to ensure they are demonstrating an appropriate level, as well as helping to remind their peers to continue with an appropriate noise level as to not disrupt the classroom's learning.
More Information –
Tool Source: A fellow peer in my class
http://www.yackertracker.com/purchase_yacker_tracker.html#yt
